Marauders
by the new mandalore
Summary: Five ninja, each a monster in his own right, chose a boy to raise. That boy, who would train under them, was Naruto. Currently on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The night is dark, with no moon in sight, and a hazy fog descending over the land. In the month of October, this isn't odd weather. It's cold, so cold. The forest around Konohagakure no Sato was suddenly ablaze as a ball of pure demonic chakra hit a hundred yard patch of trees, the fire kept spreading.

Shinobi wearing the flak vests and hitai ate of Konoha shinobi were raising in every direction, attacking the demon, running supplies, evacuating the wounded or civilians. Shinobi launched jutsu, mostly fire and earth, attempting to slow the demon's advance. They were quickly mowed down by the sweep of a tail, or the breath of fire that spelled the doom of so many comrades. They would not run, they had to hold, their Hokage would come soon.

The demon in front of them was truly a monstrosity, the Kyubi no Kitsune, one of the most powerful bijuu. Only the Ten Tailed Scorpion could hope to beat the beast, but that bijuu had disappeared long before the founding of Konoha. Similar bijuu disappearances had gone on for some time, and only nine of them remained, mostly with jinchuriki.

A massive toad strode out of the night, a man clad in the white robes of the Hokage rode on its head, a bundle in his arms. Blonde spikey hair held back with a hitai ate, the Yondaime Hokage had entered the fray, he would save Konoha. A cheer rose from what was left of the ninja, their Hokage would save them, the Yellow Flash had never failed before, he wouldn't now.

With a roar, the Kyubi collided with the giant toad, slashing it down the face, across the eye, as the two grappled. On top of the toad's head the Hokage was seen making hand signs, veteran shinobi later reported seeing a spectral figure, like Death himself, riding by the Hokage. When Death and the Kyubi disappeared, and the Yondaime fell, all that was left was a baby with whisker scars, and an intricate seal on his belly.

The next day, a Sandaime recently out of retirement announced the boy's jinchuriki status. Earning the ire of all who had lost someone in the fight, but no jinchuriki had ever had an easy life. To combat this, the Sandaime made it law to never speak of the boy's status. They didn't need to speak of it to make the boy's life hell, unfortunately.

Chapter One

Eight years later, a scrawny blonde child covered in grime is seen rooting through a trash bin for his next meal. Most kids his age were either in civilian school, or the shinobi academy, neither school would accept him. But, the boy could read, write, and do arithmetic, and secretly, he learned to use the red chakra his father taught him to use.

No one knew about Naruto's father, his father told him he had been sealed in the boy after a great fight with his mother's jealous lover. His mother died giving birth to him, his father said. The chakra his father gave him was powerful, and extremely corrosive. His father taught him simple exercises to control it, splitting leaves, tree climbing, and water walking. But, for all of this, the boy simply had decent control.

Sometimes, his father taught him to use the arms he could make from the red chakra. He could make ten now, ten powerful, demonic arms, capable of taking on Chunin level ninja in a fight. He couldn't use them though, not unless the Chunin was alone, or the others would run and tell, and Naruto would get hurt even more. He taught Naruto other things, the true history of the ninja, for instance, and secret techniques he promised in time.

A man saw Naruto rummaging through the cans, and began yelling and running at the boy, a knife in hand. Frightened, Naruto reflexively sent a chakra arm straight through the man's chest, burning through his heart and lungs in an instant. Naruto looked at what he had done, and immediately began running for the Hokage Tower. The Sandaime had helped him before, he could again.

His small legs could only carry him so far, and when the body was discovered everyone sought to blame the little jinchuriki. Naruto was a block from the Hokage Tower when the first brick hit him. The boy fell then, clutching the already healing wound. He brought his hand around, and saw blood. More rocks rained down, and the boy was battered by them.

He could feel bones break, and begin reknitting, rage welled up inside of him. The mob was getting closer, and Naruto felt something inside of him break.

A voice, his father's, whispered to him, "**Kill, kill them all, my son.**"

The special chakra his father gave him welled up inside of him, changing him. His eyes turned red, his scars deepened, and his canine teeth turned into fangs. He raised one arm, hand clawed, fingers spread wide. He smiled a smile that could only promise pain, and unleashed a furious wave of chakra hands, that clawed through civilian and shinobi alike with the ease of a knife through butter.

It was not until Naruto lay on the street, exhausted from the special chakra, that the Sandaime appeared with an Anbu entourage in tow. His face saddened when he saw the burnt corpses, and felt the taint of demonic chakra. The boy would have to be sent away, he resolved, until he could take the Genin exams, maybe until the Chunin exams even. He picked the boy up, carried him to his office, and sent a messenger bird to the only man that had ever scared the Sandaime. The leader of the Filthy Five is Bjorn the Flesh Render, the rumored fused jinchuriki of the Ten Tailed Scorpion, and the only blood relative that Naruto still had, he was also viewed as one of the last true shinobi.

To keep Naruto asleep, and thus out of trouble, the Sandaime slapped a seal on the boy's forehead. It would keep him asleep for a good three days, enough time for Bjorn to get the news. God help him if Bjorn hadn't calmed down, he, his brother, and the other three of the Filthy Five were not known for controlling their tempers when it came to family. All of the Five had lost family, and had fought in all three Shinobi wars, as the Filthy Duo, and then the Filthy Five after the Second Shinobi War.

Three days later, five figures appeared in the distance. Izumo and Kotetsu, the two resident gate guards, could not make anything out at first, and when they did, they were frozen in shock. The Filthy Five, five of the greatest and most brutal ninja in the history of the Elemental Nations, were coming to Konoha. The two didn't know whether to sound the alarm or get their autograph books.

The five eventually came into view, close enough for their faces and defining traits to be seen by human eyes. The five strode in a nonchalant formation, walking in a long, loose line that took up the whole road. Izumo looked at Kotetsu, pointing at the alarm bell, Kotetsu shook his head no. They would be killed if they did anything hostile, like raising the alarm.

At the very edge of the line, the far left of the line, strode Kakuzu. A nuke nin from Takigakure, the man used threads and elemental masks in combat, not much else was known about him. He wore a black face mask, and a grey cloth helmet. A black sleeveless top and matching pants completed his ensemble, with his hitai ate on his forehead, the insignia crossed out. The man was greedy, but not as much as he had been twelve years ago.

Next to him strode his brother, Yajyuu, a man that could hardly be called a man. He wore a porcelain helmet that hid his entire head. A green flak vest with extra shuriken pouches and a pair of grey flak pants were the only clothes he needed. Feathers, tawny brown, stretched down his arms, hiding his hands. Owl's feet, scaled up to be big enough for the six foot eight man, were where a man's feet should be. Yajyuu had been the jinchuriki for an eight tailed owl demon, before fusing with the demon. His abilities were unknown at the time, records lost in a fire.

In the center of the line the leader of the Five stalked. He was a tall man, easily as tall as Yajyuu, his eyes hid by round dark glasses, his hair a close cropped brown with gray sides. A massive sword, with serrated teeth instead of a blade, sat on the man's back. He used the blade, and it's abilities, to test his opponents. A grey trench coat framed him, with a black shirt advertising an unknown band on his chest. His pants, grey, had knee guards, his boots had steel caps on the ends. Gauntlets hid the man's hands, and right now, the gauntlets were clenched in fists of barely controlled rage.

On his right, a lanky man, nowhere near as burly as Bjorn, slouched with a scythe/spear hybrid across his shoulders. A top hat sat perched on his rainbow mop, and light blue glasses hung down his nose, letting his orange eyes gleam maniacally. A black trench coat hid his bandage wrapped chest, and the pants he wore, well, they were purple. The only thing that really made sense to the man was the pair of steel toed boots. Even if he appeared insane, which he arguably was, Ezekiel Jones was no one to underestimate. The Mad Warlock had killed many, and once had been said to have fought Madara Uchiha to a standstill. Not only was Ezekiel the former jinchuriki of a demon, Ezekiel a Jashinist. He worshipped a dark god, who helped the man in battle. Ezekiel claimed they were mutual business partners.

The only man left was a follower of Jashin, the burliest one amongst them, standing at six foot six, Misery was a beast of a man. With blood red short hair, black eyes like a shark and the teeth to match, Misery was what he looked like, the perfect killer. He only wore ripped red pants, his chest marred by scars. The tattoo of Jashin, a triangle in a circle, was tattooed over his right breast and on his back.

The five presented the two Chunin with their identification, and a scroll of invitation from the Hokage himself. In awe, Izumo presented his autograph book, and when the amused Five signed it, Kotetsu got his out to. No one thought the Five would sign autograph books, so no one ever asked, when it turns out they rather willingly give autographs.

After they had signed the twos books, they pressed on. No words were spoken, they would not discuss plans out here where all ears could hear them. Bjorn would speak for them in the office, and after, they would leave, with Naruto and Konoha still standing, or with Naruto and a ruined Konoha behind them. The Five were ready for combat, always would be, they didn't look ready though, they appeared relaxed.

Civilians fell silent when they saw the five shinobi, shinobi had their hands on their kunai or shuriken holsters when they saw five of the largest bounties in the Bingo Book walking down the street. Until they remembered one little detail, you didn't get into the Bingo Book without being exceedingly dangerous. And the more money you were worth, the deadlier you were.

Chunin stood in groups after this revelation, and even Jounin stood in pairs, watching for any sign of malevolence from the five deadly shinobi. Ezekiel winked, pointing a finger at the resident Snake Mistress of Konoha Anko Mitarashi, and her friend Hana Inuzuka. Both girls blushed, while his attire was odd, Ezekiel no doubt represented a fine specimen of man. The Inuzuka could smell the power that the man held, knowing he'd make a fine alpha and mate. Anko merely liked the killing implement he carried across his shoulders.

The Five finally arrived at the Hokage Tower, and simply disappeared, reappearing outside the Hokage's window. They climbed through an already open window. The Five had come to take one of their own. All they had to do know was get the Sandaime to agree, it was better than being tracked by pesky hunter nin for the next couple years for kidnapping a kid. Especially if that kid is a jinchuriki.

"So, Sarutobi, you finally tell me I have a living relative, a descendant of Minato, only when he has become too much of a handful? You shame me, you old monkey, you shame yourself!" Bjorn exclaimed, breaking the silence the room had echoed with.

The Hokage, an old wrinkled man smoking a pipe, was momentarily taken back. He sighed, knowing that Bjorn was right, "because, even if he is your descendant, Minato would have wanted him to grow up in Konoha. To be a hero, a legacy to what he had accomplished."

"Yeah, I'm sure my nephew wanted his kid to be a goddamn target for an entire village that hates him. That's real smart, of course he'd want his only son to be a living punching bag!" Ezekiel crowed, bowing after he finished talking. Amazingly, his top hat remained on his head.

"Ezekiel, don't badger the man, that's Bjorn's job." Yajyuu admonished, he didn't care for what happened to the Hokage at the moment, but some form of etiquette was needed.

"Yes, oh wise and powerful Yajyuu, stuffer of pillows!" Ezekiel saluted, and fell silent. Bjorn shrugged, and turned back to business.

"The boy is blood, he belongs with us. I, his grandfather, and his uncle, Ezekiel, will train and bring the boy back when he is sixteen. I believe that is still the age the Genin graduate at?" Bjorn raised an eyebrow, that appeared above his glasses like a half moon. With the eyebrow raised, a small amount of orange light appeared from behind that lens.

"Bjorn, it was changed to twelve years old, twelve year olds are starter Genin. And I can't exactly let you take an asset of the village away." Sarutobi was trying to navigate these dangerous waters.

"Then change the age, everyone knows they aren't worth shit as twelve year olds, maybe with another four years of training they'll be worth something?" Kakuzu harshly stated, he had little patience for political maneuvering. He just wanted to get home, his kids got older every day he was away. And children needed their father, growing up without his, he would do his best.

The Sandaime scratched his chin, "I was thinking of that, Genin mortality rates are already too high, and it's demoralizing to see crippled children gathered around the veterans' home, I just might do that. But, letting Naruto go with you will raise hell with the council."

Bjorn slammed his fist into the Hokage's desk, leaving deep imprints in the metal. "That's nowhere near as hard as I can punch, you are the Hokage for gods sakes Sarutobi! No one in this village holds more power! And here you are, bitching and moaning that the council will complain! Let them, and for the sake of your health, give your less important paperwork to the clerks you have a floor down! You're wasting away you old bastard, can't you see that?"

Sarutobi was shocked, Bjorn's words rang in his ears. Clerks, people that were supposed to do his work, was he wasting away behind this desk? He looked at a mirror on the wall, and saw the face of a man ten years older than he was. He sighed, he knew Bjorn was right, the man was telling Sarutobi what he had denied.

"Alright, you can take Naruto, however, I want you to see the council's faces when I relay this news to them." A smirk crossed the old man's face, and Bjorn knew then he had changed the old Hokage.

"It's good to have you back, you old monkey, I knew the boy I helped train was in there somewhere." Bjorn departed with an Anbu to get Naruto, the other four left with the Sandaime, a new man, to tell the council the news. Behind them, the Hokage's secretary rushed mountains of paperwork to the underworked clerks who had had it so easy these last few years.

The five walked into a room, the Hokage had called a regular meeting, much like one they had every day. The civilian council squawked like chickens, trying to outdo each other, while the shinobi half looked bored out of their minds, the only one anywhere near attentive was Hiashi Hyuga, and he even looked zoned out!

When the Hokage walked in, the civilians fell silent, and the shinobi snapped to attention. This was no tired old man, this was their Hokage! He stood taller, with four strangers walking in a line behind him. A few of the shinobi recognized them, some cast glares, while others hid a little fear.

Before them, were four of the Filthy Five, the civilians, however, did not recognize the four. To them, they were simply four shinobi. They would not expect what came when they tried to pull their underhanded move. But, for the moment, the Sandaime started speaking.

"Following the incident with Naruto Uzumaki, he will be trained outside of the village for six years. When he comes back he will enter the Chunin exams as an apprentice, and be granted a Sannin travel pass." Immediately after saying that, the Sandaime was bombarded with outrage by the civilian council, and even some of the lower ranking clan heads.

"Silence!" the Hokage roared, "I have let you have free reign of this village for too long! You civilians have no say in the matters of Shinobi! And yet here you are, demanding things that you have no knowledge of, asking for the death of a simple child? You sicken me, Ezekiel-sensei, escort them out of here."

"With pleasure, Sarutobi," Ezekiel unslung his war scythe from his back, "alright, I'll count to ten, and any member of the civilian council I see in this room is getting a taste of the business end. Ten, Nine, oh wow, look at them run!" The civilians had scrambled quickly from the room to get away from the psycho, all eyes following them. When they turned back Ezekiel was kicked back in an armchair, in the middle of the former civilian council's box, drinking a pop a butler had just served him, where the butler came from was no one's knowledge. He waved for Sarutobi to carry on.

"As I was saying, Naruto Uzumaki's custody will be given to Bjorn the Flesh Render. To be trained by his uncle and grandfather, for six years. Are there any valid objections? No? good, I'll be in my office if you deem it necessary to bitch about anything." Sarutobi turned on a heel and left, the shinobi took that as their signal to disband. Still to shocked by the change of their Hokage, they didn't notice him mentioning the graduation age would be increased to sixteen.

While the Hokage was telling the council how the game was changed. Bjorn was talking to his nephew, meeting him had been a shock, especially when he saw traces of himself in the boy. The two simply sat, staring at each other. It was Naruto who first broke the silence.

"What do your eyes look like?" he asked, his once blue eyes had become the red eyes of the Kyubi. He could hear his father whimpering inside of him, scared of this man for some reason.

"Well, I'll show you, grandson." Bjorn pulled his glasses off, revealing solid orange orbs with a diamond pupil. The eyes glowed and pulsated with power, radiating killer intent.

"They're pretty, did you just call me grandson?" Naruto was hopeful, did he have an actual family member still alive?

"I'm a grandfather of yours, with at least four or five greats tacked on before that. So, just call me grandpa." Bjorn smiled, the kid was a credit to his family.

"Okay jiji," the boy beamed, while Bjorn's eye twitched. The boy was a lot like his family it seems.

"I've come to take you out of the village, if only for a few years. We're going to train you." Bjorn told the boy.

"Who's we?" the boy asked. He did want to be a ninja, and his grandpa seemed to be a powerful one.

"You're uncle, Ezekiel, and about three others are going to help train you, but I must warn you, they're not the sanest bunch." Bjorn told him.

The two left the room, Naruto holding his grandpa's hand. They walked up the stairs to the Hokage's office. He wasn't there, so they headed to the council chambers. When they got there Ezekiel was still sitting in an arm chair, sipping something that smelled like Jack 'n Coke.

Bjorn deadpanned, "that, Naruto, is your uncle. Don't listen to him by the way, he's an idiot."

"Hey! I resent that comment. I have yet to light my face on fire… on purpose." Ezekiel smacked his forehead, realizing he had just proved his point.

"As I was saying, the broody guy with the black eyes is Kakuzu, the guy with no shirt on and his mouth sewn shut is Misery, and the one wearing an Anbu style helmet is Yajyuu. Altogether, we make the Filthy Five, one of the most badass ninja groups active."

One by one, the rest of the five greeted Naruto. Misery couldn't talk, so he merely waved. They all seemed enthusiastic, to train a kid in their own form of ninja arts, for some reason a cold shiver went down Naruto's spine. What an odd thing to happen.

The five left Konoha, Naruto riding on the shoulder of his grandpa. They wouldn't be seen again for a long time, and when they were, it was the start of a legend. Naruto Uzumaki would be a famous shinobi in his time, if he could live that long. They headed far into the North, to the land of Winter, a frigid land only occupied by savage tribes and the most peculiar shinobi. There they had a base, and they would train Naruto in it.

Before they got close to the Fire country border, the five detected an ambush. The four peeled off to intercept it, leaving Bjorn to explain to Naruto the other four had to use the bathroom, no use in making the boy upset. The Root Anbu sent to ambush and capture the Kyubi Jinchuriki were silently taken out, by the four's skill, not a sound was heard. Until Ezekiel set off an explosive note that sent him careening into the path. He simply got off the ground and dismissed it as a failed attempt at flight, Naruto bought the excuse.

What he didn't see was Misery stepping out from the woods behind them, faint shadows visible. If one had enhanced hearing they'd notice a steady dripping sound, and if they could smell, blood would be pungent. The five Root ninja left dangling on razor wire strings served as a warning, all the flesh on their skulls stripped away. The sign of Jashin carved into their foreheads, a sacrifice worthy enough for it.

Then, about five miles down the road, Misery dropped out of the line again. No one commented on it, and the sleeping Naruto didn't notice it. Misery simply turned around, and disappeared. Soon, another figure appeared.

He was a slightly older boy than Naruto, possibly the same age even. He had huge eyebrows, and eyes that never seemed to blink. His hair was a mess, his clothes no better. Dirt covered the boy, dirt and bruises. He quickly darted out of the bushes, across the road, and into another set of brush. He glanced around, sighed, closed his eyes. And when he opened them, a monster of a man was in front of him.

With a yell, Rock Lee fell back into even more brush, including a thorn bush. When he got up, he saw that the man called Misery stood before him.

"Sorry for following you , I don't know your name," Rock Lee rubbed the back of his head, "mine is Rock Lee, what's yours?"

The man glared, but the thread holding his lips shut slowly rewound into his mouth, when he opened them, black teeth like a shark's poked out. "My name, the one I have been called, is Misery. It is a pleasure to meet you Rock Lee, now why were you following us?"

"Misery-san, I saw you and your comrades walk through town, and each one appeared to be a genius, but you, you appeared to be a genius of hard work, someone who had little natural talent, but yet trained to become strong."

Misery sweat dropped, he actually had talent, it's just he only used taijutsu and some kenjutsu. He didn't really need any ninjutsu. He had a few techniques, he just didn't need them often.

"Well boy, why is it you picked me out?"

"To train me, of course," Rock Lee said, "I have very little chakra, so I cannot become a ninjutsu master, but no one will teach me how to fight."

"I'll take you on as an apprentice boy, but I don't want to hear one word of complaint, know tell me, do you know of the glorious Jashin-sama?"

Somewhere in Iwa, a traveling silver haired missing ninja sneezed. She cursed whoever was talking about her.

No one commented on Misery appearing with a boy later, he simply said that the boy was Rock Lee, and Misery's apprentice. Naruto immediately took to the boy, and the two went off gallivanting in the woods.

The two boys were tearing through the forest, oblivious to anything around them, when the noises simply disappeared from the forest.

**Son, listen, something is out there, tell your friend to get help. ** Naruto nodded, told Lee, and when Lee complained, he yelled at Lee to run, Lee ran as all hell broke loose. Giant spiders appeared from the shadows and immediately attacked the two boys. Three almost got Lee before demonic orange hands made of chakra sliced through them.

Lee was crying as he ran through the woods, not out of fear, but out of shame. He hadn't been able to help Naruto, he was too weak. He needed to get stronger. The boy felt a foreign presence, a voice told him to stop, he did, the voice told him to be a true servant of Jashin, to use the gift he had. A pair of gauntlets and a set of bladed tonfa appeared before the boy.

**Go forth, in the name of Jashin, you will learn how to use these tools. Slaughter all heretics in the name of Jashin, my servant.**

Then, the voice was gone. Lee put the gauntlets on, he had a rudimentary knowledge of fighting, he put the tonfa in his belt until he knew how to use them, he ran back to save Naruto. Unknown to him, a shadow was following the boy. Ezekiel always did like a good show.

Naruto was having trouble, his father could only give him so much chakra, and there were so many spiders. Seriously, he liked normal sized spiders, but these giant ones were annoying! A jolt went up Naruto's right arm, a spider had bitten clean through his arm, and venom was coursing through his veins. His left hand became enshrouded in chakra, and he ripped through the spider's skull. He pumped chakra into his right arm, burning out the venom and healing his wound.

Suddenly, Rock Lee came flying through the air, a pair of heavily armored black gauntlets swallowed the boys arms past his elbows, someday he would grow into them. With a heavy punch, he flew forward, his fist leading the charge. He smashed through three spiders, covered in guts he came to a halt by Naruto.

"Those gloves are so cool!" Naruto yelled, his demonic hands still snapping through the air.

Lee simply rubbed the back of his head, "they do some amazing things, but they take a lot out of me!" He exclaimed, "I'm tired from simply fighting my way here Naruto-san."

"Well, hopefully my grandpa heard us, because we need to get out of here." Naruto said.

"Nah, he sent me," Ezekiel called, his scythe across his shoulders, "need any help?" he grinned.

"Yes please!" the two chorused.

Ezekiel jumped from his perch, slicing through a spider with the scythe blade, the spear head on the back of the blade coming back to gore another through its belly. A chakra shroud was growing on the blade, only it didn't feel like chakra. When the blade was white hot, he yelled for the two boys to jump, when they did a huge arc of pure killing energy went through the forest, killing spiders and shredding trees.

"Can we learn that!" the two exclaimed, it was bright, powerful, and flashy, what every boy thinks is essential for a jutsu.

"You don't have chakra, and you don't have the right demon in your gut, so no," Ezekiel stated, "But, you can probably make something exactly like it, minus the howling voice in you skull." He proceeded to rap on his skull, making the boys question his sanity, or lack of it. "Oh well, let's go back to camp, I'm sure Misery will want to know about those little gifts you have from your God."

When they got back to camp, Bjorn simply nodded to the boys, "We'll start your training tomorrow night after we set up camp. Misery, if you want to talk with your apprentice, do it somewhere else, I don't want to clean up any blood." The two disappeared into the woods, probably to fight. Jashinists tried to train their apprentices as quickly as they could, to gain more sacrifices for their god. Lee would come back that morning covered in bruises, and scars. Misery had cut him fiercely, inflicting grievous wounds, and only then did he heal the boy. Scars still covered the boy's body, he would slowly gain an ability to heal, but that would come from many more sacrifices. Jashin didn't invest power in just any of his followers.


	2. Chapter 2

Marauders

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own the Filthy Five, so bugger off Kishimoto

Chapter 2

It was three months later, and Naruto had taken to his training well, his grandfather and uncle had begun training him physically, and had finally decided he was ready to learn the use of chakra. Unfortunately for Naruto, this meant being trained by his bat shit crazy uncle, who loved to use the most unorthodox methods of training.

"Tell me Naruto, what do you know of chakra?" Ezekiel questioned, sitting cross legged on stump, sipping coffee.

"I know how to use my special chakra, um, it's a combination of physical and spiritual energy used to harness elements or other tasks?" Naruto was unsure, "is that right?"

"Very good Naruto, you see this paper?" he held up a piece of paper the size of a card, "channel chakra into it."

Naruto did as he was told, and the paper split down the middle, one half crinkled up, and the other burst into ash.

"Now that is one of the most contradictory elemental alignments I have ever seen. Fire beats wind, and I don't even know how the lightning got in there. Oh well, here, try and cut this leaf in half. When you get that down, try and burn this one into ash, and after that, try and crinkle this one into a ball. Good luck." Ezekiel turned his back on Naruto.

"Um, uncle-," Naruto tried to say.

"No talking! More training! Don't take this off your head!" He screamed, putting a dead squid on Naruto's head. The slimy tentacles hanging like bangs, Naruto didn't dare move the squid, he simply sighed and tried to do as his uncle told him.

Meanwhile, Rock Lee was on the other side of the woods, copying kata from Misery, two styles he would learn, but before then he had to train physically, even harder than Naruto had been worked the last three months. Lee was wearing ankle weights, his gauntlets with more weights, and a plated vest that had to weigh almost as much as he did from the way it felt.

After sliding in and out of seven kata, for the last seven hours, Misery simply told him to begin his conditioning, sweating, Lee nodded. His conditioning consisted of laps around a huge track, pushups, pull ups, sit ups, calisthenics, and sparring with one of the many weird things that Ezekiel seemed to have under his command. He had been fighting a skeleton with boxing gloves since he came here, surprisingly the skeleton could hit like a freight train. Ezekiel said it was because he drank his milk.

Rock Lee was plodding around the lake, what was considered plodding by Misery was sprinting to many Chunin, unfortunately Misery noticed, and the skeleton from before started chasing him. Rock Lee's speed increased drastically. After the fiftieth lap Naruto found his way into the race, saying he needed to cool off, muttering about stupid leaves. The skeleton increased speed, and the boys were running laps for a long time after that. The rest of Lee's training found Naruto joining him.

"Naruto-san, where are your weights?" Lee called from doing pull ups on a tree. He couldn't see any on Naruto.

"I have gravity seals, and these," he showed Lee arm bracers with seals on them, "grandpa thought it would be a good idea, unfortunately it was to everyone else as well."

The next day, Naruto found out an important lesson, his right hand could channel the chakra that worked well on wind, while his left could channel the electricity and fire. He actually made a ragged cut, and continued to practice the rest of the week. Eventually, he began working on the fire chakra.

Lee meanwhile, had just gotten an increase in weights, with gravity seals on his already bulky weights, the boy was straining to accomplish his regular training regimen. Luckily, the skeleton didn't chase him today, he hated that fucking skeleton! Someday, he would smash it.

His sensei, Misery, called Lee to him the first day of that next month. It was four in the morning, and since Jashin had improved his eyes, the two needed no light to work with.

"Tell me Lee, has anyone ever taught you to fight? A true style, like the Hyuga's with their Gentle Fist?"

"Sensei, there was one man, who said I looked a lot like my father, he had begun teaching me the Gokken, Iron Fist style, before I left." Lee replied.

"Ah yes, the Gokken, a style that is a path full of improvement, for those that are true fighters. I can teach you that Lee, but why learn the Gokken when you can learn its father? I will teach you the Buddhist Palm fighting style, and… the style of all true Jashinists, the Massacre fist style."

"Massacre Fist, Buddhist Palm, sensei, what are they?" Lee asked in wonder. He had never heard of either.

"Long forgotten, they are two deadly styles of combat, the Massacre Fist is a tool of slaughter, the Buddhist Palm one of protection. Together, they are unbeatable. With the Buddhist Palm, your Chi will be focused to be a force of power, in the Massacre Fist, your loyalty to Jashin will be your power. You have been praying I hope?" Misery raised an eyebrow.

"Yes sensei, I have prayed to Jashin-sama in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. As before, I have sacrificed a small amount of my blood at the alter every time." Lee stated.

"Good, soon Lee, we will begin your pilgrimage. The day you master the Buddhist Palm, is the day you and Naruto set forth into the Chunin exams. To prove to the world that the Village of Shadows is not a myth, that we are not some fairy tale thought up to scare children." Misery gravelly ordered.

After four months of training, Naruto had a passing mastery of his three elements. Incredibly, he had begun working with C rank jutsu in his fire and lightning element, He had three B rank and over fifteen C rank mastered already in his wind element training. Unfortunately, the squid stayed on his head 'until he could use A rank jutsu in all three elements' the hat had begun to stink.

Currently, Naruto was working on an A rank wind jutsu that fired seven blades of wind, each at different angles. It was called, appropriately, Wind Element: Multiple Blade Jutsu. Depending on how much chakra you pumped in it, you could get any number of blades firing. He had it down to fifteen seconds of hand seals, he was trying to get it down to three, by the end of the week he would.

After getting his jutsu down to seven seconds, Naruto opened a scroll containing C rank fire jutsu, he saw one that's description said it fired a huge arc of fire into the surrounding area, he immediately began memorizing the hand seals. The first arc was weak, he pumped more chakra, and lit several trees on fire.

"Fire Element: Fire Wave Jutsu, success," he grinned, going on with his training. But, before long, he had to go to his conditioning regimen, he would do his family proud. Soon, his weights would be increased. Unknown to him, his grandpa and uncle sat in a tree, unnoticed, discussing what would become of Naruto.

"I say we test him, see if he has the bloodline, it would be good for him." Bjorn was trying to convince Ezekiel.

"He'll unlock it when he does, besides, the boy can be competent without your curse brother." Ezekiel icily replied, his maniacally jovial personality gone, "the boy is doing fine, lets train him, get him involved in some low level missions, and then we'll see if he needs your curse. We can help him with Akatsuki, but ultimately he must be the one to end them."

"I hate it when you're right," Bjorn glowered. Ezekiel simply grinned, exposing his fangs.

After three months of hard training, Lee had learned a grand total of two Buddhist Palm techniques. He had all the kata memorized, but the sacred techniques eluded him. The first, the Palm of Buddha, created a wave in the form of a hand, fingers close together, thumb sticking out, he could create a small hand, nowhere near the giant imprint Misery had sent through the woods.

The second technique, was a deflecting wave of force that sent a huge push away from the swing of the user, by drawing his arm across his body, hand outstretched, he could create a vortex that sent everything flying in the blows direction. He could deflect shuriken and kunai, but not techniques. Not yet anyways. His master had promised him that if he mastered the two, at the end of the month, he would make his first sacrifice to Jashin.

"Good Lee, concentrate, and repeat the Palm of Buddha, channel more force this time." Misery called, luckily, Lee created a successful attack.

"Now, the other technique, the Divine Wind, are you ready?" when Lee nodded Misery threw kunai and shuriken, being blocked by consecutive waves, he finally sent a fire jutsu straight at him, using two waves, Lee sent the flame missile around him, parting it down the middle.

"My apprentice, tomorrow, we begin your pilgrimage. We may even meet my daughter along the way, she's not much older than you. Well, close enough anyways, your what? Eight or nine? She must be thirty by now, probably has a kid of her own, I think that's what that card said." Misery rubbed his chin, muttering about stupid dates and years. Lee simply sweat dropped, thirty was significantly older than his own age.

"I am eleven sensei, I had poor nutrition, and a late entrance into the academy. Naruto is no better however, he thinks he's eight, he's really ten. I think the Hokage erased part of his memory and put a seal on him to stunt growth." Lee said sadly.

"Yajyuu checked him over, and yes, while unfortunate, he is in fact ten." Misery said sadly, "and yes, he knows this now. His grandpa told him after they met."

"Why did the Hokage erase his memory sensei?" Lee asked.

"Not even I know Lee, I'm sure he had a good reason though. We won't take the seals off, not the memory blockers, when we wrote a message to the old monkey he said it was to hide a traumatic part of Naruto's life. I only hope he's right." Misery turned away, "prepare for your pilgrimage tomorrow, Naruto and Ezekiel are coming. So is Yajyuu, Kakuzu went North to fetch his family."

Lee thought about that, Naruto's life was bad enough at one point that the Sandaime had erased part of it. While Lee had been a street urchin, he had never been hated quite as much as Naruto, he vowed that if anyone tried anything with Naruto, he would smash their fucking faces in. He clenched his fist so hard when he swore that oath, that blood began freely pouring from the nails cutting into his skin.

"Naruto!" he yelled across the forest, Naruto appeared amongst the trees, curious at the rage in Lee's voice. "Naruto, I swear on Jashin-sama and the blood in my hand that if anyone harms you I will smash their fucking faces in!" Lee screamed his oath.

Naruto was touched, truly, deeply touched, Lee was his first true friend. First that he could remember anyways. He took a knife, slit his palm, and allowed the blood to drip down into the ground.

"And I swear to you Lee, that if anyone messes with you, I will smash their fucking faces in!" Naruto yelled his oath right back. With a speed unable to be tracked, the two locked hands, mixing their blood, and so becoming blood kin in their minds. **Now son, you have a blood brother, a better choice I could not think of. **Naruto's father told him. The two nodded, then broke their bond to continue training, meanwhile, in the trees, their mentors were stunned.

"Reminds me of something we did Bjorn, except we are blood brothers, we both have the same mom!" he cheerfully crowed.

"Yeah, and the same dad, don't forget him you idiot," Bjorn tartly replied. "Misery, I suggest you pack, bring enough dehydrated food to last a good year, train them across the land, I'll catch up in a few months, I've got business." Misery nodded, and disappeared.

_Men screamed, yelling "help, help!" Footfalls echoed across the torn ground, dead bodies everywhere. The echo of clashing blades, jutsu being cast, and arrows sinking into flesh filled the land. I'm wheeling, hoping to find where the noise is coming from. I can hear him screaming, pleading for me to save him. _

_ I hear them, begging, pleading. I hear him laughing, telling them they'll have their mercy. I can hear heads rolling, I know I won't get there in time, tears boil up from behind my glasses. I have to get there! I can't let him down! _

_ I find them, the remains of the patrol, shed snake skin, black hair, scales, like those from a snake, lye around, eleven men dead, one still alive. It's my son, my son is dying, and I cannot save him. I hold him, cradling his head in my lap, I stares up into my eyes, as a tear trails through the mud and blood on his face. When he's gone, I close his eyelids. I take a shred of the snake skin to remember. I will kill the man that did this!_

"Uncle, it's time to get up!" Naruto yelled up the stairs, awakening Ezekiel from his nightmare. In a cold sweat, Ezekiel got in the shower, and strode down the stairs, his normal self. The grin on his face hiding the horrors he had experienced in all three Shinobi wars, and countless civil conflicts. The scars, mental and physical, were hidden for now. He simply put on a brave face.

When they finally left, Ezekiel had only one thing to say before staying quiet, "let's go find my wife and her daughter." Stunned silence was the only noise. It stayed that way for the rest of the trip, only terse words were said by Ezekiel as he trained Naruto further, Misery simply took Lee away to train. When the boys were asleep, far away, Misery would let Ezekiel spar with him to take the pain away, no matter what happened, Misery would always heal from his wounds.

Finally, they came to the land of Hot Springs, a den of sin and adultery. Here, gambling, prostitution, and hardcore drugs were the staples of the economy. Here, Ezekiel told them, he knew his wife was here. No sooner had he said that, than he was proven right.

A silver haired woman with hair cut short, figure hidden by a black robe, was charging at Ezekiel, swinging a three bladed scythe. Ezekiel had a grimace of hate and sadness on his face, he charged, his own scythe sweeping back for the kill. The two scythes locked, before the two broke contact, they continued to trade blows until Ezekiel dodged one, and got close enough in to embrace the woman.

The two stayed lip locked for over five minutes, long enough that no one noticed a twin of the woman, a younger twin with an axe instead of a scythe admittedly, with blood red hair instead of silver, approach and simply sit holding her forehead with her hand. Hiding her eyes from the embarrassment, Lee saw she was his age, and tried to strike up a conversation.

"My name is Rock Lee miss, what is yours?" Lee offered her his hand, which still had his gauntlet on it.

Blushing, the girl took it, "my name is Ono, it's a pleasure to meet you Lee." The Two shook hands.

"Naruto, this is your aunt Hidan, your cousin Ono, Ono, this is your grandpa Misery." Ezekiel finally had come up for air, and introduced everyone.

Naruto was struck dumb, and was quiet for a few seconds, "WHAT!" was heard across the elemental nations.

Lee and Ono left with Hidan and Misery, to continue their pilgrimage, Naruto never learned what Lee did, but when he came back, covered in mud and blood, with scars all over and his clothes in ribbons, Naruto knew he had become a true Jashinist. The black tattoo on his left bicep was a dead giveaway. It was a triangle within a circle, the symbol of Jashinism. Ono had a tattoo as well, over her right eye, Naruto had tried to befriend his cousin, and it seemed he was slowly beginning to win her over.

"So you finally decided to come back, what is it this time?" a haughty female voice asked, whatever affection Hidan had shown for Ezekiel earlier had been erased. "Have you come to take away another of our children? To let them die on some godforsaken battlefield hundreds of miles away?"

"Shut the fuck up woman, Einar was a shinobi! He did his duty, he died fighting! A true way to go, you think I don't know how it feels? Not a day goes by I don't regret what happened to that boy. I loved him, he was my son! I've come to train my daughter, whether you come with is no consequence, but she is coming with. I'll not have that snake bastard try and steal my child for an experiment ever again." Ezekiel, the man that had slayed god knows how many, the man who became a demon, the only one known to be stronger than Bjorn Flesh Render, was talking, and Hidan, his jaded wife, listened.

Hidan, crying, collapsed into Ezekiel's arms, they sat there the whole night. Ezekiel holding the woman he loved, who blamed him for their son's death. He didn't blame here. Silently, he vowed to protect his remaining children. He would kill the snake man, the shark man, and the plant man for taking his oldest daughter, for killing his second oldest son, and for kidnapping his youngest daughter. Tears fell from his eyes as he remembered the three. He would kill them, Orochimaru, Kisame, and Zetsu, and Hidan would help.

Lee and Misery were outside of a small village, a picture of human sin and adultery. Misery nodded at Lee, and Lee knew it was his time to shine. Misery would make sure no one got outside of the village. Lee was to sacrifice them all to Jashin, whether they were guilty or not. Luckily, they all were guilty in his eyes. He found a baby, with a seal on its stomach, lying in the street that was all Lee needed to see before he pulled a man around and sent a small Palm of Buddha through him, killing five other people.

He continued through the village. Breaking bones, obliterating arteries, smashing organs, he killed indiscriminately, and when he was wounded, it simply healed. One man got him through the chest with a spear, he simply broke it off and his healing factor pushed out the shattered chunks. When he was done he stacked their bodies in the center of town, but not before drawing a giant symbol of Jashin around the town with dismembered arms and legs. He picked up the jinchuriki baby, cooing to it, as he left town. Misery would have another Jashinist to train one day.

"What should I name the baby sensei?" Lee called as he trudged up to him, covered in blood and bone chunks. A whole eyeball was still glued to his boot with blood. He casually kicked it off, not even disturbed.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Misery asked, Lee honestly didn't know. But, when he had to change the baby's diaper he yelled, "it's a girl!"

"Name her something nice, Junsui?" Misery suggested, Lee shrugged, good enough for him.

Halfway home, Lee asked Misery something important, "sensei, how, how do you forget the faces of those you've killed?" Misery just sighed.

"Lee, unlike you, I was born to do this, I only know one other man that enjoys killing, and he could go toe to toe with Ezekiel and have a fifty percent chance of winning, that man is Yajyuu."

"Sensei, Yajyuu hardly ever speaks, or does much of anything. I don't think I've seen him move since we set up a camp here."

"He takes his meditation seriously, it's only been a week! I remember once he stayed that way for three years, didn't stop eating for a week after that. Crazy bastard, he's the only man I know that can do that without going crazy, probably because he already is. I've seen that man fight entire Anbu platoons and come out on top."

"What?" Lee was surprised, he assumed Yajyuu was only Jounin ranked, that he was like a roadie for the rest of the Five, he honestly didn't know their legends, "Sensei, how exactly did you and the rest of the Five get famous? All I know is that almost every nation has a flee on sight order on the Five."

"We killed a lot of people, ninjas and samurai, civilians to. I joined the group in the Second Shinobi War, Kakuzu didn't till the Third, the original duo was Ezekiel and Bjorn, then Yajyuu joined halfway through the First Shinobi War," he pauses for breath, "before Yajyuu joined the group, he was a common psychopath full of hate. That man has never been a ninja, he's a killer. He only got to join the group when Ezekiel found him slaughtering a Konoha base camp, he wasn't allied with Konoha, but he stopped him. He even took the hate out of that man, turned him into a calm, collected killer.

"Yajyuu had already killed everyone, but he was about to rampage in a small village that Ame, who Ezekiel was allied with, so he had to. After he kicked his ass, Ezekiel offered him a position, he accepted. After that, they slaughtered a combined Iwa/Kumo force with Bjorn. Say what you will about Ame, they protect their own. They're the only village we ever allied with in the wars. It's a shame they're on lockdown or we'd take you there."

"Maybe for the Chunin exams we can register with Ame?" Lee said hopefully.

"Maybe, Hanzo's a paranoid bugger, ever since that upstart Pein tried to kill him he's been beefing up his security, might help if we started living there though." Misery rubbed his chin, "I'll ask the boss about it, alright?"

Lee nodded, "yes sensei, I would appreciate that." Lee was always a polite boy.

While Lee was trying to become a good dad, Naruto was training with his chakra control, he knew tree climbing, and had alternated sprinting across a lake with sprinting and jumping up and over and all around trees. If it didn't get his chakra control up to snuff nothing would, until Ezekiel told him four words, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Soon enough, an army of Naruto's were going up and down trees.

"So sensei, how long till we can be badass ninjas and actually gain some notoriety in the world, I'm getting bored!" Naruto yelled, for only training a few months he was getting cocky, something Ezekiel was about to remedy.

"You think you're ready for the world do you? Alright, try and beat me," Naruto didn't hesitate, he came at Ezekiel with a kunai, next thing he knew he was flying, hit a tree, and broke three ribs. He spat blood and tried to get up. A scythe blade was at his throat.

"The day you can last more than a minute against me is the day I let you take a real mission with us." Ezekiel told him coldly, he replaced his scythe on his back, and left.

Naruto was stuck training all day. Luckily, with clones, he could work on jutsu and chakra control while he worked on his taijutsu. He was learning a style called Beast Form, something his grandpa said was in his blood, and one day would become his curse. Naruto hadn't learned what that meant, but the styles forms were powerful, and all were based on animals. He began working on his Wolf form.

"Grandson, move your left foot forward a good three inches, and angle it further down." Bjorn called, sitting on a tree, he had a long object wrapped in cloth with him, "here, catch, I'm sure this will help."

Naruto unwrapped the gift, and found a blunt, heavy sword with no edge, his grandpa told him to channel chakra into it, he did and still nothing happened, Bjorn told him to do it for the rest of the night. He left Naruto pumping chakra into the sword blank as he headed home.

"So your letting him have his own sword, how much did the blank cost?" Ezekiel asked from his hiding place amongst the woods.

"Same as always, a pint of blood for the crazy old smith to imbue blades with," Bjorn grinned, "Why so serious, you look angry. Like the time you started dressing like a clown."

"Don't remind me of that time, I dress up as a clown once, purple suit and everything, and show up to a mission. I'm not even sure how I came up with the whole 'why so serious' thing, and why did I change my hair to straight green?" Ezekiel lamented. His hair, a mish mash of a rainbow, suddenly turned straight green, "exactly like that!" it changed back to normal.

"Let's just keep an eye on Naruto, shall we?" Bjorn said, trying not to laugh. He still wasn't sure how Ezekiel could do that.

Naruto was pouring chakra into the sword blank, sweat beaded down his face with the effort. The sword was heavy, and only getting heavier. He could feel something, he didn't know what, but something in the blade. A violent, powerful spirit rebelling against him, he asked his father for chakra, the strange red chakra combined with his blue, turning it a deep purple, he funneled the chakra into the blade, hoping to sate its thirst.

He spent the entire night in that position, kneeling on the ground, funneling chakra into a blade raised into the air. Finally, it was full, and what happened next was the start of a legend. A violent explosion erupted from the blade, and almost knocked Naruto away, violent smoke filled the air, and when it cleared, Naruto was left holding a zanbato, a giant blade.

It was at least six feet long, a two foot handle with a four foot blade. It was broad, with a huge curve on the end. It was straight other than that, a deep blue metal, with a razor sharp blade. Its handle was wrapped in blue leather, no guard, it had no fancy anything. This blade was made for killing. It was beautiful to Naruto, a feminine voice softly singing to him in his head, the voice wouldn't tell him her name, he'd have to wait. She told him lovely things, even played music for him.

Naruto wrapped the blade in bandages, and slung it over his back, he'd carry it that way for the rest of his life. He didn't get three feet before he fell over, completely lacking any chakra. He could hear her melodic laughter as he saw his world go to black. The last sight before he passed out was of a beautiful blue haired girl in a matching gown playing a piano.

"Ah, brings back memories, that does," Ezekiel called, "remember when we got to do that eh Bjorn, dad thought it would be so clever to give us those for our Chunin graduation present."

"Yeah, it really does bring back the old memories. I wonder what his sword will teach him, who knows what the Kyubi chakra will do to it. Speaking of which, did it take us that much chakra?" Bjorn questioned. He didn't remember using that much to create his own blade.

"For me, no, you, yes, your sword was greedy, my scythe not so much." Ezekiel lovingly patted it, "and we've been killing people ever since, right honey?" the pleasure coming from his blade could be heard from its hum.

"Fondle your blade later, right now we have to get Naruto to bed. I'll grab him and his sword, you go check and make sure Yajyuu is ready to move, he's meditated for long enough." Ezekiel simply waved, and disappeared.

Yajyuu, we're going to move soon, get up." Yajyuu slowly stood up, and stood waiting. Ezekiel sighed, "I know your still sad, and angry, but it was twenty years ago for gods sakes! It's time to move on. I miss her to buddy." Yajyuu's head bent down, looking at the ground, blood ran out of the slits in his mask where his eyes were.

"Now, come on, Naruto just got his sword. Next stop is Kumo, might find a girl there for yeah. Huh, would you like that?" a blank look was his answer, "alright, alright, last time I checked Kumo had a whole section of literature you haven't read yet." That cheered up the titan of a man called Yajyuu. He loved books, even kept a giant library with him in several sealing scrolls. He ambled off, to check his money, to prepare a sealing scroll, to do something other than meditate at least.

Ono and Hidan were on their own pilgrimage now, after saying goodbye before, the two had left for Ono's own training. Someday, they would meet again, but that day was a good few years off. Naruto would sixteen the next time the two groups met. Lee would be seventeen, a full-fledged apostle of Jashin. Until then, the two groups would be separate, going their own ways, doing their own things, and fighting their own demons.


	3. Chapter 3

Marauders

Two years later

It had been two years since Naruto had been taken into his families care. He had been given a brother, Lee, a cousin, Ono, an uncle, an aunt, and a grandfather. His aunt and cousin were off somewhere, training to let Ono become an apostle. Lee was himself training for that position, being trained by Misery, which kind of sort of made him Naruto's other uncle, seeing as he was Hidan's dad. Misery had taken to viewing Lee as a son, and the training he had put the two of them through had shown.

Lee wore a set of black samurai armor, his hair cut short. Black gauntlets on his hands, tonfa in his belt, Lee had become a master of Buddhist Palm and Massacre Fist, two completely opposite styles of combat. He was deadly with both, but with his tonfa, he became a force to be reckoned with. His sensei and father, Misery, hadn't changed, if anything he had slowly gained more chakra and skill.

Naruto, Naruto had done well under his grandpa, his uncle, and Yajyuu's training. His grandpa had helped teach him about the world, politics, missing ninja, strategy, and his sword. He taught Naruto of life, Ezekiel trained him in ninjutsu and taijutsu, and conditioning. Yajyuu, Yajyuu taught him to fully use a sword. Even without one, he could destroy Naruto in a kenjutsu fight, Kakuzu to.

Kakuzu didn't do much, mainly financing the Shadow Village. He ran it, he'd settled down with his wife and two sons. He was a good father, and an even better mentor. He had helped Misery on occasion train Lee, but Lee was a Jashinist, and Kakuzu didn't want an overpowered one running around.

Naruto still wore the basic training outfit, camouflage pants, boots, a grey t shirt, and a red flak vest. His sword was on his back, he still heard her singing to him, he still didn't know her name. Today, his uncle had told him and Lee to meet him outside of the village, the Hokage had sent them a teammate, someone he hoped they could straighten out. The boy was being brought by Hatake Kakashi, who was sent to evaluate the two boys, and help train the boy. The boy's name is Sasuke Uchiha.

Ezekiel shook hands with the Hatake, he had fought his father, and let the man live. He was respected by Kakashi, who actually acted like a professional on this mission. Sasuke, the Uchiha, merely sneered, he hated the fact he had been sent here to train with nobodies. The fact that their only reaction to his glare was to ask if a stick was up his ass did little to improve his mood.

"To gauge the boys' skills, I'd like them to spar. Lee, why don't you fight Sasuke today, and Naruto can tomorrow." Kakashi said, he had been briefed about this before the mission. He knew Sasuke was most likely in for an ass kicking.

"Ezekiel sensei may I?" Lee asked, with a nod, Lee accepted the fight.

Sasuke thought he could end this fight with a quick fireball jutsu, unfortunately he found himself going ass over tea kettle. Lee had hit him in the face with a straight haymaker. He didn't need Buddhist Palm or Massacre Fist, straight Gokken would work. He disappeared again, and an axe kick floored the Uchiha, knocking him out cold. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, sweat dropped at how quick the fight had gone.

Kakashi was now between a rock and a hard place, he was expected to train these two? He was no slouch, but together, the two could probably give him a run for his money, a few more years training, some combat experience, they could turn the Filthy Five into Seven. Maybe even Eight, if they could turn the Uchiha into an actual ninja instead of some asshole pretending to be one. Of course, that meant putting the boy through the worst kind of hell, but that would be fun. So much fun, he sarcastically thought, just oodles of it!

"Well, that wraps that up, I'll bring the Uchiha inside and test you out myself." Kakashi slung the passed out boy over his shoulder, or thought about it, instead he dragged him into the manor and tossed him onto a couch. When he went back out, cracking his knuckles, the two boys felt sweat break out on their necks. They knew they were in for a beating, same as when Ezekiel had Friday night hide and seek matches. Where he would seek, find, and pummel you.

Two hours, five cracked ribs, one ruptured spleen, forty stiches, fifty staples, and one hang nail later, Lee and Naruto sat across from Kakashi, sprawled out in a training field. Kakashi had three of the cracked ribs, fifteen staples, and the hang nail. Lee had gotten the three cracked ribs with one good punch, Naruto had given him the staples with his sword. Slowly, Naruto and Lee healed from their injuries, while Kakashi used a medical jutsu to heal his.

"Well, you need experience, that's about all that can help you now." He explained, "Training can only get you so much. Starting tomorrow we'll be working on conditioning, chakra control, and kenjutsu. Most of this will apply to Sasuke, I have to get him up to speed, just not all that fast." Kakashi finished with an eye smile.

So, for weeks, months really, the three boys tried to get along. Naruto and Lee did attempt to make friends with Sasuke, who after getting his ass beat with a single blow from the flat of Naruto's blade, had become more agreeable. Sometimes head trauma just does that, a blow can relieve pressure on a part of a brain that was being strained, releasing mental illness. So, in short, Sasuke's psychosis was cured. Or, at least relieved of some stress, I'm no doctor. They only issue would be he had to learn emotion and trust and all sorts of other things all over again. Kakuzu helped him with that, even started testing the Uchiha out.

As training flew by, mostly light duty for Lee and Naruto while Sasuke struggled to keep up. The Uchiha ran around the same lake they did, only half as many laps, with a quarter of the weight they carried. Still, the boy was wiped out by the time he was done. Lee and Naruto simply dragged him back to the house, and threw him on a cot. Gradually, they didn't have to drag him back so often.

Kakuzu was always looking for an apprentice, he didn't want his sons to be ninjas, and he'd make them be doctors or lawyers if he could. But, being an S ranked shinobi, he knew he might not see his sons grow up. He might not live to teach them, by having an apprentice, not only would his Earth Grudge Fear technique be passed on, but it had the potential to become a clan! Sitting with the Uchiha at night, talking and drinking coffee, he slowly turned Sasuke into a normal, if somewhat psychotic, boy. He was a lot like Naruto and Lee, the three slowly forged a bond in their training from hell.

Kakuzu began helping the boy with his chakra control. He started with the tree climbing exercise, Sasuke began running laps up and down the trees for whole days, Naruto alongside him. Lee, not having much chakra, spent that time meditating or praying, which were about the same for him. When the two climbing trees were done, Lee would spar with Naruto, while Sasuke watched with amazement.

Watching Naruto and Lee fight with normal eyes was a challenge. It was a constant blur between the two, with mere tenths of seconds of visibility when their hits crossed. Lee would hold his tonfa so they stretched down his forearms, and block Naruto's swings! Sparks always flew, and usually a kick broke the two's battle. The fights mostly ended in a draw, with the occasional win taking place. The current record was three wins Naruto, three wins Lee, two hundred thirty three draws.

Sasuke was no good with swords, or gauntlets, tonfa, scythes, spears, chains, any kind of weapon really. Until he got his hands on a spool of ninja wire, he had a natural talent for spinning deadly patterns and attacks with it by focusing his chakra. Kakuzu helped him, even gave him pointers, His black eyes gleamed with joy when he made his new sensei proud. Kakuzu never said anything, but his eyes always gave it away.

"Don't get cocky kid, I only began teaching you for one reason, to keep the Earth Grudge Fear alive, you just happened to be the first kid I found." While a lie, technically, Kakuzu told Sasuke this to keep him humbled.

The next day, Sasuke actually told Lee and Naruto, grudgingly, he considered the two rivals, which was close enough to friend for him. It was after a spar, the three had left the forest around them destroyed, full of scarred trees, shattered boulders, and covered in blood. Luckily for Sasuke, the two boys knew some medical jutsu, crude, but effective. Under his shirt, Sasuke hid countless scars. The two told him they also considered him a rival.

Ezekiel and Kakashi were waiting for them when they got back, Sasuke was to meet Kakuzu at the usual place, he had finally decided to initiate Sasuke into the Earth Grudge Fear clan, Sasuke even smiled when he found this out. Naruto and Lee hooted and hollered, until he disappeared.

"Earth Grudge Fear, one of the most horrific, deadly, unsettling bloodlines. You know if you enter my clan, your Sharingan will never manifest?" Kakuzu asked.

This stopped Sasuke, he needed his eyes to kill his brother, but, Naruto and Lee didn't have a Sharingan, and they had defeated him just as easily! He thought it over, "do it."

Kakuzu nodded, Sasuke removed his shirt and Kakuzu began drawing a sealing array on his back, five symbols connected by a spoke over his heart. Each symbol represented one of the five main elements.

"Now, you may feel some pain, bite down on this." Kakuzu gave Sasuke a stick to bite on, no sooner did he have it clamped, and the most intense pain he had ever felt coursed through his body. He passed out right after the pain stopped.

When he woke up, someone was poking his cheek, one eye cracked open, and Lee's grinning face greeted him. Without asking, Lee handed him a mirror, his new appearance shocked Sasuke.

For one, his hair was long and flat, no curl or anything. His eyes were solid black, and thread covered his body. He looked at his face, stitches on his cheeks gave him the appearance of a grinning fool. He didn't notice before, but his pupils had a pinwheel around them.

"Yeah, we think your transformation gave you a new doujutsu, we think it's different than the Sharingan somehow." Lee explained. He just wanted the boy to think that he could still have the Sharingan, they honestly didn't know if the Sharingan would manifest still, or if Earth Grudge Fear had killed it off.

"Where's Kakuzu sensei?" Sasuke asked, he wanted to ask the man quite a few questions.

"Waiting outside, grab your pack, you're going on a training trip with him." Lee replied. Sasuke looked worried.

"Where to?" the newest disciple asked.

Lee's grin widened, almost maniacally so, "why, to where all clan members of your blood go, Thunder Mountain. I hear the giant spiders are especially aggressive this time of year!" If looks could kill, Lee would be dead. Sasuke shouldered a pack, and left with Kakuzu after saying goodbyes, they wouldn't come back for a year.

"So, what do we do know uncle?" Naruto asked, watching Kakuzu and Sasuke disappear down the road, "Lee and Misery are leaving on another pilgrimage, grandpa is who knows where, and Yajyuu is meditating. What do we do know?"

"That's easy Naruto, we go visit the bears, and the bear handler." The demonic grin on Ezekiel's face promised a fun, dangerous, adventure.

The three, Yajyuu decided to tag along, headed for the far forests of Iwa. It wouldn't be a terribly far trip, but a terribly dangerous one. One of the perks of living with S rank ninja though, is the fact you can go pretty much anywhere with one or two of them. They had to go through Kiri first, and predictably, they got side tracked.

Standing outside the gates of Kiri Naruto was stunned, it was different than Konoha, the walls more scarred, more stained. Kiri was a savage place for killing and slaughter. Yajyuu appeared wistful, as if remembering days gone by, Ezekiel appeared saddened, he pointed to a particularly deep scar on the wall.

"See that scar? Your grandpa put that there with his sword fighting the first Mizukage. The blade went right through the guy and kept going!"

"Grandpa killed a Kage!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Only the first Mizukage, Kakuzu fought the first Hokage, killed the second, Yajyuu killed the first Kazekage, and the first Tsuchikage, Misery killed the first Raikage, and I killed the second Raikage, the second Mizukage, and dueled the third Hokage to a standstill."

"If you've killed one of their Kage, why are we going into Kiri?" Naruto asked.

"Regime change, they've got a Godaime now, who just happens to be about seventeen. Odd, but I guess since she's got a bloodline limit she was a good candidate. They just had a revolution over them after all." Yajyuu replied, then elbowed Yajyuu, "I hear she's a looker to, might want to check that out big guy!" Yajyuu just looked down at Ezekiel till he stopped bugging him.

"Spoil sport, fine, let's go have the old man look at Naruto's sword." A shiver went down his spine, and Naruto looked worried.

The guards appeared alarmed when they saw Ezekiel and Yajyuu, the trio could see them scurrying like ants about, Jounin and Anbu amongst them. Finally, when they reached the gate, not only were there a good platoon of Chunin, but two squads of Jounin, and even a squad of Anbu, waiting for them. The three merely showed their passports and were told to wait for the Mizukage. The next five minutes were tense, hands on kunai, in the first hand seal for a jutsu, or gripping a sword.

Finally, a woman in blue and white robes came striding down the street, with two men at her side. One was Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, his companion was Chojuro, the wielder of the Hiramekarei. The only two loyal members of the Seven Swordsmen left. Flanked by Zabuza was a hunter nin, and on Chojuro's side a woman. But, this woman was, different, she had on a black tank top, a black mini skirt with fishnets, and combat boots. Her hair was short and raven black, her lips brought out with black lipstick, the woman appeared gothic in nature, but was far too upbeat to be called such.

"So, two of the Filthy Five come here, to my humble village, even though they've killed two of our Kage's, what for?" The Mizukage asked, the busty, brunette woman was all business.

"Oh, you know, gonna see if we can't get the runt his first Kage," when the guards stiffened, he continued, "Only joking, only joking, we're here to talk to Einar."

A hunched over form appeared in the crowd, slowly walking forward with a cane in hand. The man had once been tall, now he was crippled. One leg appeared to be made of metal, the reason for his cane. But, there was life in the man's bones, especially when he gripped Ezekiel's hand in a vise. The man smiled, his scarred, grizzled face lighting up.

"So, my favorite student returns, what do you want brat?" The man said in a voice like gravel.

"What? I can't just drop in for a visit? I came to let you meet my nephew, Naruto, this is Einar. Einar is the sensei of the Five, and the strongest man I've ever met." The awe in Naruto's eyes at those words could not be described, but the closest you could get to it was watching five universes explode at once.

"Bah, I was foolhardy, training you five brats. I should've just trained a hammer, it would've learned better than you did!" the man wheezed.

Shaking his head of iron gray hair, the old man beckoned for them to follow, "Mei, you can come to, get rid of the lap dogs." The lap dogs in question merely snarled, but the woman with her followed.

The group followed the old man to a modest house, inside tea was already boiling. "Sit down, and shut up, I'll grab the tea." Mei simply looked at Naruto, then away, the woman with her was staring at Yajyuu.

"Alright, pour your drinks, and tell me why you're here." Einar said as he returned.

"We came to warn you about Akatsuki, they're hunting jinchuriki. Might want to keep an eye on bubble boy," Ezekiel said.

"I'll make a note of it," Mei replied, "Morrigan here will bring one of you to meet him." Yajyuu was sent off with the gothic woman to meet the jinchuriki.

"Trying to set my man up with your woman?" Ezekiel asked.

"I think it's the opposite," she replied dryly.

"Eh, good point," Ezekiel said, "we came here not only to warn you, but to ask for your help if we need it."

"Any disciple of Einar is welcome in Kiri, even if they've killed a Mizukage," Mei said.

"It's settled then, but, we'd like to stay and see the sights, maybe give the boy some sparring practice with your swordsmen."

"Alright, I'll have Zabuza pick him up tomorrow."

"Can't wait," was Naruto's sarcastic reply.

Meanwhile, Yajyuu was walking silently next to the woman known as Morrigan, who was taking sidelong glances at the stoic ninja. Finally, she decided to break the silence. It was a good decision on her part.

"You know, growing up, all the kids at the academy worshipped the Filthy Five, but no one else was a fan of you but me." She shyly admitted.

Yajyuu simply cocked his head to the side as he looked at her, "thanks." His voice a smooth, warm melody, it didn't seem to go with his appearance that voice.

"Oh, um, no problem," she blushed and looked away.

"Is it true they made trading cards of ninja, and I have one?" Yajyuu asked.

"Yeah, they still make them." She leaned up to whisper in his ear, "and I still have yours." He only chuckled.

"I'd like to see it sometime," he replied as they neared a dilapidated shed. It was dank, and smelled of cabbage, but it was home to a jinchuriki. The boy was small, and pale, he held a demon in his belly, the cause of his misery.

"Well, young jinchuriki, would you like to have a new home?" the boy nodded, "then follow me. Wordlessly, the boy followed.

"He's a mute," Morrigan suddenly said, "he can't use jutsu because he can't speak, he relies on his demon."

"We'll work around that," Yajyuu replied.


End file.
